He must have left me with one of his family members because I'm laying in a bed. It doesn't look like a guy's bed, considering it's covered with pink flowers. I've been laying awake for about an hour. I still feel pain all throughout my body, and I can barely move.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, I thought you were still sleeping." A kid about 16 comes into the room. He starts to close the door again but I go to stop him.

"No, it's fine. I've been awake for about an hour." I say.

The kid nods. "I'll get the Don."

I raise an eyebrow, confused. This 16 year old says Don? Already?

Obviously he mistook my confusion as to what a Don is. "It's his, uh, nickname."

I nod and he closes the door before I hear him run off. I attempt to sit up. It's a struggle, but I end up propping myself against the headboard.

The door softly clicks open and a tall, masculine figure fills the doorway. "I'm glad to see you're awake." He says giving me a soft smile. "I was planning on being here when you woke up, but I also didn't plan on you being up so soon." He walks closer to the bed and I watch his soft smile drop. No doubt he is looking at my black eye. "What happened to you?" He whispers.

I close my eyes and remember the bats. The ferocious swings, and the damage done to my body. "They beat me with bats." I see the boys cringing as they hit me and feel my limbs curl up into a ball.

"Sh sh sh, it's okay." He sits down right beside me and hesitantly places a hand on my shoulder. "They're gone now." I nod, but keep my eyes shut. They did their part. Now I have to do mine. Hopefully he's part of the gang I'm supposed to spy on.

"I deserved it." I hiccup out a cry and feel his hand clench lightly on my shoulder.

"No one deserves to be beaten almost to death." He says with a hint of anger. "Especially not a girl like you."

I pull away from his hand, and he visibly tenses. "Did they rape you?"

Instead of lying, I look away and don't answer him.

He sucks in a sharp breath of air. "What's your name?"

A name. Something that I hadn't thought of. I was supposed to get a new identity before I left, but we didn't have time. Now I have to come up with one. "Alice." I say quietly.

"Do you have any family here?" I shake my head. "Any place safe to stay?" Again, I shake my head. "Well, Alice, you can stay here as long as you need."

"The kid said your nickname is Don, do I call you that?" I ask, trying to figure things out.

"Oh, no, that isn't me, you'll meet him soon." I nod my head. "He should be coming up now actually. Do you want me to make him wait to see you, or are you okay?"

"I think I'll be fine. He isn't going to hurt me, is he?" I ask, still huddled in my ball

The man laughs. "No, you're fine, although I do need to warn you, he can be a bit insensitive at times. Try not to take what he says to heart." Just as he finishes saying that, a loud knock comes from the other side of the door. "And that'd be him. My name is James. I'll see you soon."

"You aren't staying in here with me?" Faking a bit of fear, I shoot my head up to look at him.

He sighs and shakes his head. "Sadly, no. He won't let me sit in and listen." Noticing that isn't normal human behavior, I quirk an eyebrow at him. "This is his house." I nod and climb under the blankets, trying to hide myself. "Don." The man only replies with a grunt. "Alice, this is Don. Don, Alice." Again he only grunted. "Alright. I'll leave you to it." The door shuts and I decide it's time to look over the blankets.

His arms are crossed across his chest and his entire body looks like a dark looming figure. We sit in silence for what seems like forever, and it isn't a comfortable silence. "What's your name?" He asks, obviously trying to diffuse some of the tension.

"Alice Reed." I say.

He looks at me for a short pause, then grunts. "I had the doctors take a look at you. They said you'd be out for about a week."

"I've been asleep for a week?" I ask quietly. No wonder my throat hurts. I haven't been speaking.

"No. You've only been asleep for a few days." His eyes look over me and I shift uncomfortably. "Come here."

"W-what? Why?"

"I'm going to check your wounds. You were badly beaten when James brought you in." I still haven't seen his face. The room is too dark, and the lights that are in the room are causing an eerie silhouette to cover his face. I decide to play the scared card and don't get up. "I won't bite." He says that, but his voice sounds like he'd bite me at any second. When I don't move to get up, he charges towards me. "You don't disobey me!"

As he stomps over, I squeal and hide myself. "Don!" I hear James yell out and the thundering steps stop. "She's a victim. She was beaten, here. It isn't her fault if she's scared. Take it easy. She isn't going to be trusting of men."

My saving grace. I slowly take my head out from under the covers and look at James, who is angrily glaring at his Don. "She is in my house, she'll do what I say."

"She doesn't live this kind of life. She doesn't understand it. You can't just throw an innocent girl into this. She'll be out once she's healed. I swear, by the nine." James finishes his little speech and turns to look at me, his eyes softening from their previously steely state. "Besides. Look at her. She's scared and helpless. How can you, as a man of honor, be so cold to her. She's as sweet as a baby."

"I'm not, though." I say quietly. James looks at me, confused. "I'm part of a gang. I understand everything."

"James, get out." I've heard that tone before. It's the tone that says, 'if you don't get out now, you'll never leave again'.

With a short glance at me, James bows his head and leaves. "Please, just leave me alone." I say into the comforter.

"Look at me." I do as he says, finding it better not to disobey him at the moment. The second I do lift my head, I feel relief flow into me. "I don't tolerate disobedience. When I tell you to do something, you do it. I won't hurt you, but that doesn't mean I won't get angry." His voice is as cold and emotionless as his voice, but, him being who he is, that doesn't surprise me. "Do you understand me?" I nod my head. "Good, now, stand up." Nodding, I slowly pull the blanket off of me. Time to lay on the act thick.

A hiss leaves my mouth and I grab my side in pain.

"Take it slow. You had to be stitched up in several places."

I move to stand up, but almost fall. Okay, so maybe acting isn't necessary.

He's quick to react, and he lightly steadies me. "I said take it slow. If you don't listen, then I'll examine you on the bed." A heated flush hits my cheeks and I hide my face. "What?"

"Nothing." I say quietly.

"Fine. Stay still." He begins by pressing on certain areas and every once in a while I hiss and glare at him. Once, I thought I saw a tiny smile cross his face. "Well, you're sore, as expected. The amount of drugs in your body should've kept you asleep much longer." I don't speak up. I've been given many drugs to build up a tolerance of them. I was probably given a lot just to put me in this state. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you will answer them."

I nod and he sits me down on the bed. "Did you know the man that attacked you?"

"No." My voice is small, and so unlike my own.

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

"I only got a glimpse of one of them as he dragged me into a warehouse." I say, quietly emphasizing the 'them'.

"So there was more than one?" I nod. "How many?"

"Three or four. I'm not sure. My eyes were closed the majority of the time. They accused me of being a spy." I don't look at him as I speak, acting ashamed of myself.

"Do you know the name of the gang they said you were spying for?" He asks, a hint of what might be curiosity developing.

"No, only that they were on their territory. It's just, I'm only an accountant." I say.

He asks another question. "What did they attack you with?"

"Bats, or at least I think they were bats." I say as I touch a tender bruise.

"Alright. James will tend to you. You seem to have taken a liking to him. Might as well put it to good use." He looks at me. "I'll be speaking more with you later." He turns to leave, but stops mid step. Without turning around he says, "And I apologize for what happened. If I ever find the men that did it, they will pay."

He leaves and a breath that I didn't know I was holding escaped. Well, I found my target. Now if only I could figure out how to get him to become my hero.